


In Your Dreams

by Baroness_Blixen



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Episode: s06e10 Tithonus, F/M, Fluff, Sleep talking, Up In The Air - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 12:29:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17508653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baroness_Blixen/pseuds/Baroness_Blixen
Summary: Scully is talking in her sleep and finds a captive audience in Mulder.





	In Your Dreams

Scully snuggling into his side while they’re crammed into economy class is nothing new. Her drooling isn’t either. What is new, however, are the cute little noises she’s making. It starts with a sigh and Mulder turns his head slowly, very carefully, to check if she’s asleep. 

Her head is on his shoulder, using it as a pillow. Her mouth is slightly open, hence the drooling. Her breathing is deep and even as she sleeps. He smiles, making sure he doesn’t jostle her. It’s a peculiar feeling, but he is proud that she trusts him enough to do this. Not long ago she fell asleep all the time, without meaning to. Her body too weak after another round of chemo. Those days are gone. She still falls asleep everywhere – mostly on him – but it’s different. It’s like this now; the armrest between them up, her against him warm and cuddly, like a kitten.This is not just exhaustion, it’s a choice she’s making. As always, she smells amazing and he has to refrain from just burrowing his nose in her hair. How she manages to do that every time, smell like this, no matter where they’ve just been or what they’ve just done, baffles him.

A few moments after her sigh, content and easy, she mumbles something. Mulder doesn’t catch it at first, but he closes his magazine to watch her instead. In case she repeats it, or maybe says more. He doesn’t have to wait long. There are words coming from her mouth, he is certain of it, even if he can’t tell what she’s saying.

“Hmm, Mulder.” Except that. She says his name clearly, loudly and he leans towards her to check again. There’s no doubt about her being asleep. Her talking in his sleep is a new discovery, to him. A smile tugs at his lips. He’s tempted to ask her random questions just to see what she’d answer. He knows that sleeping people are honest to a fault. But Scully trusts him and he’s not going to jeopardize that trust. As curious as he may be.

“Mulder, no.” He nods and chuckles. It’s as if she’s agreeing with him. A flight attendant walks by and he is preoccupied for a second. Scully scoots closer as if afraid he’s going to leave her. Her hand lands on his arm, startling him. Unlike the rest of her it feels cold. In a moment of brave stupidity - or maybe it’s just instinctual - he puts his hand over hers. She doesn’t wake. With his free hand Mulder opens his magazine again, trying to concentrate on the words. He can’t. They’re holding hands here in row 23 with Scully fast asleep against him like… like… 

“You’re crazy,” she mumbles into his shirt, some drool catching on her bottom lip. She is right. Even in her sleep she is right. But it tickles him that she’s dreaming about him while snuggled against him.There are people in the middle row, behind and in front of them. Are they thinking what Mulder doesn’t dare to think? Do they look like a couple? He knows the answer to that. They’ve been mistaken for a couple many, many times. As recently as Scully’s stint in the hospital after the Fellig case. His grip on her hand tightens as the memory returns. He dials back, thinks about visiting her, not almost losing her. Again. She’s fine; she’s sleeping next to him, healthy and healed. One of the nurses would refer to him as Miss Scully’s “boyfriend” whenever she saw him. Mulder never corrected her. Scully must have at some point, because she stopped calling him that. But for a while, for at least one person, he was Scully’s boyfriend.

A strand of hair has come loose and is covering her eyes. He brushes it away, hoping she won’t wake. She is so used to his touch that she doesn’t even stir.

“Hmm, Mulder, we can’t. Not here, not… hmmm.” They’re entering questionable territory and Mulder can’t help but be curious. 

“What are you dreaming about?” His voice is gentle and he’s not sure she could hear it even if she was awake. When she remains quiet, he feels a pang of absurd disappointment. 

“Mulder.” The way she says his name makes him sit up straight; he’s never heard it like that. It’s playful, it’s new, it's… sexy. “You’re so bad,” she giggles. There’s no way she is still asleep; she just giggled!

“Scully?” Still, there is no answer and her breathing pattern hasn’t changed. What on earth is she dreaming about? He has a pretty damn good idea, but doesn’t allow his thoughts to go there. In case he is wrong. In case he might take it too far. But damn it, his mind is reeling. He wants to be with her in that dream. It sounds like she is having way more fun than he is. The dream version of him, too.

“Do you need anything, sir?” Mulder startles, jumps up in his seat and wakes Scully by accident. He stares at the flight attendant he’s just seen pass them by moments ago. She’s smiling at him politely, waiting for an answer.

“No. No, thank you,” he manages to get out. Scully has moved away from him so that there’s an appropriate amount of space between them. She is straightening her clothes and her hair, trying to make both look decent again, too.

“A water, please,” she says, her voice thick and raspy. She didn’t sound like this when she was talking in her sleep. He blushes just thinking about it. The flight attendant takes her sweet time pouring fresh water into a cup. Mulder bites his tongue to the point of pain. He just wants her to leave them alone again.

“Here you go.” Mulder takes the cup from the flight attendant and hands it over to Scully. Their fingers brush and his breath catches in his throat.

“Thank you, Mulder.” This time his name sounds like it always does. He swallows his disappointment with a sip from the tepid coke he bought earlier before he watches her drown the cup of water. Her cheeks are red, her eyes still small from sleeping. She looks adorable.

“Is there something on my face?” She asks him, interrupting his thoughts.

“Huh? No. Sorry, I was just thinking.”

“About what?” 

“Did you have a nice nap?” Now it’s her turn to blush.

“Sorry for-”

“Don’t ever apologize for using me as a pillow.” He grins at her. “I like it.”

“I was going to apologize for falling asleep on you.You were telling me something about seals?” She blinks at him, obviously trying to remember what he had been talking about before exhaustion caught up with her.

“It doesn’t matter. Wasn’t that interesting.” Definitely not as interesting as her dream. Watching her, he can’t tell whether she remembers it or not. She’s never talked in her sleep before. Not with him around, anyway. He knows he shouldn’t ask, should just let it go. Asking hera bout it might make her feel uncomfortable. He’s risking her falling asleep on his shoulder in the future if she’s embarrassed.

But he can’t just be quiet.

“Hey, Scully?”

“Hm?”

“Have you ever… talked in your sleep?”

“Not that I know of,” she says and he believes her, “why are you asking?”

“Oh, I was just wondering.” He turns a page in his magazine even though he hasn’t read a single word. 

“Was I talking in my sleep?” He shouldn’t have said anything. He shouldn’t have. Scully’s eyes are boring into him. Mulder pretends to be reading – until she rips the magazine out of his hands. There’s nothing he can do but face her.

“Mulder?” If he doesn’t say anything she can’t accuse him of lying, so he remains quiet and hopes a sheepish grin will do the trick. Let sleeping dogs lie. Or let sleeping Scullys talk and never mention it. Ever. He should have known this, too: she won’t back down until he confesses.

“You were just mumbling. I didn’t understand what you were saying.” Except his name. Loud and clear. In that voice he’s never heard before. So much for not lying to her.

“Are you sure?”

“Hey kids.” A head appears between the seats in front of them and they both startle, Scully grabbing his arm in a death grip. “I don’t know what your deal is,” the man waggles his finger between them, “but even I heard you. You were saying this guy’s name.”

“How do you know it was my name?” Mulder asks.

“She’s just been saying it five more times.” The guy rolls his eyes and for a moment Mulder is convinced he and Scully are related. “Get your shit together.” He disappears again and when Mulder turns to look at Scully, he finds that the color of her face is dangerously close to the color of her hair.

“I’m sorry,” he says, keeping his voice quiet.This is a conversation between the two of them. He leans closer to Scully so that their heads are almost touching. Mulder is reminded of earlier when she was asleep, her head on his shoulder, trusting him to keep her safe.

“Not your fault. It’s me who’s sorry, Mulder. I don’t know what I was dreaming about or why I was saying your name.” She refuses to meet his eyes. That’s the reason he didn’t want to mention it. If only he’d kept his mouth shut. There’s only one way to save the situation now.

“I liked it.” She stares at him, disbelief in her eyes. “Hey, don’t give me that look. I mean it.”

“What was I saying? Please, Mulder?”

“Mostly just my name and… you called me crazy.”

“That’s it?” There’s hope in her eyes and he decides that an airplane is not the right place to have this talk. They’re always on a plane, in a car or a hospital. There’s never any time to just have a conversation. They’re due for one or ten by now. Not here, though, with prying eyes and big, eavesdropping ears. He nods and Scully relaxes visibly. Her secret is safe with him. All of her is safe with him. 

Her head finds its place on his shoulder again and he leans against her, hoping she won’t mind. She doesn’t. He wants to admit that he’s dreamed about her, too. That he does most nights and that many of his dreams aren’t PG-rated. But not here, not now.

But soon.


End file.
